I dunno, I'm not really interested in the Meta either.
I feed off of the meta, though, since it helps with deck-building, but I don't think I'd ever play the meta. It's too fixed for me and not really personal enough- which isn't a Yu-Gi-Oh problem but really is the case for most things that have a meta.
'S why it's good to have people you know who play. Back when I lived at college I had a few roommates who played semi-casually, so it made for good competition. We'd mostly build off of each other, give tips and play fun (tournament legal) decks and get better as we went along, which was fun.
The meta does have a certain appeal, though, but I think if you decide to play the meta it kind of undermines the whole "collectible" portion of the game. Well, assuming you don't collect for the sake of it.